I cleared my throat, taking a step back when Colin finally finished tying the ribbon around my neck. “Of course I do. It’s just… I don’t know. You’re too young to understand.”
Colin chuckled, then quickly covered it up with a cough. He tapped his right hand on my shoulder, whispering, “Prepare to be lectured.”
“Too young?” Kieran’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m already twelve. I’m like six years away from marrying someone, though that’s pretty unlikely. Unlike you, I don’t need to marry someone to fill a void in my life. I have my books, which, for your information, keep me companyandmake me smarter. But even if I were to marry someone at eighteen, I wouldn’t be nervous. Nobody’s forcing you to marry Brooke. Then again, I guess nervousness isn’t just a sign of fear or worry. It might be a good thing to anticipate what the future with someone you adore might hold.” He looked at his dad, cocking his head. “Were you nervous to marry Mom?”
“Me?” Colin pointed at himself, eyes wide with surprise. “Uh… no. Well, yes, but no.”
“Dad…” Kieran sighed heavily, shaking his head. “What will Mom say when I tell her that you weren’t nervous to marry her? Mom’s the best. If nervousness is an important factor for marriage, then you should’ve been nervous.”
“Yeah, Carter. You should’ve been nervous,” Aaron added from across the room. I totally forgot he was here as well. For the past hour, Aaron had been asleep on the king-sized bed. “Didn’t even ask me for my blessing.”
“He was supposed to ask Grandpa, Uncle Aaron,” Kieran corrected. “So, technically, your blessing would’ve been useless unless Grandpa was dead.”
“Did Gramps give his blessing?” Jamie asked curiously, suddenly sitting up beside his father.
When did Jamie get here, anyway? The last update from the kids I got was that Jamie, Elliot, and Nova were running around the castle to check it out.
“He did,” Colin answered. “But that’s not important now. Today’s about Reece and Brooke.”
“One more question,” Jamie announced, now looking at me. “Did you get Miles’ blessing to marry Brookie? If so, do I need Miles’ blessing to marry Nova?”
“Nova?!” Kieran’s jaw dropped and I swear, his eyes were about to pop right out of his head. After making his way over to his cousin, Kieran grasped Jamie’s arm and made him follow him out. “We’re going to have aloooongtalk about this, Jamie. Nova? Seriously?”
“Great, with the kids gone…” Colin turned to all of my groomsmen, which, to be honest, were also just family and Ming. Brooke and my wedding was small but expensive. “I need all of you to leave as well. I have important matters to discuss with my brother.”
Important matters? I swallowed thickly at the thought of whatever that was.
Colin might’ve been my brother, but that guy could scare me like no other.
Ah, shit, he was probably going to threaten me because if I ever broke Brooke’s heart, he was going to murder me. But I already knew that, and frankly, if I ever broke Brooke’s heartagain, I’d ask him to do it.
As soon as everyone left the room, Colin seemed a bit more on edge. It wasn’t like he was about to explode or anything, he wasn’t angry, either. He appeared almost nervous.
“Are you okay?” I found myself asking. Suddenly, the heavy weight in my chest that had caused my lungs to malfunction just a minute prior had lifted all on its own.
What the fuck was Colin about to tell me that made him look… like this?
“Of course,” he replied as he walked across the room and over to that mysterious box he’d brought with him. When I’d first seen it and asked about it, Colin refused to tell me what was inside. “You have a first look with Brooke, right?”
I nodded. “Why?”
“Just wondering.” Colin picked up the box. “I have something for you, or well, you have something for Brooke. Either way, I promised someone I’d give this to you on your wedding day.”
My eyebrows drew together in confusion as I watched Colin carry that box to the bed and set it down. “How does that make any sense?”
“All right, so… little back story. When you were born?—”
“Oh, God.” My hands shot up to my face, fingers rubbing my temples. Any story that started withwhen you were bornwasn’t a good one.
“No, listen. When you were born, we kind of already knewthat Eira was sick. We didn’t knowhowsick but that doesn’t matter because ever since Eira knew she was sick, she started to really cherish every second she had with you. From the moment you could walk and started to pick random objects off the floors, she came up with a really interesting idea.”
“Should I be scared?”
Colin chuckled as he shook his head. “You probably don’t remember but the firsteverflower you picked off the ground wasn’t for Mom or Eira, it was for Brooke. Miles, Eira, and I took you to a park and when Eira saw you picking that flower and giving it to Brooke, Eira immediately begged Miles to make sure Brooke wouldn’t lose it because she wanted to collect these for you.”
My eyes fell to the box on the bed. It wasn’t huge by any means, but it wasn’t small, either. There was no way there were flowers inside of that thing, right?
“Before Eira died, she asked me to continue to collect them if I could, and she wanted me to give these to you when you got married.” He picked the box back up and handed it over to me. “So, that’s every single flower you ever picked off the ground and either already gave or planned on giving to Brooke from the first up to the very last I’d gotten my hands on.”